Valve for brine tanks



Dec. 1, 1925- A. F. OCONNOR VALVE FOR BRINE TANKS Filed Aug. 27, 1920Patented Dec. 1, 1925.

UNITED STATES la'rnlviV OFFICE.

ARTHUR F. oCoNNon, oF CHICAGO, ILLINoIs, AssIGNoR To UNIoN RAILWAYEQUIP- MENT COMPANY, or CIIICACC, ILLINOIS, A ConPoRATIoN on ILLINOIS.

vALvn son BRINE riJANKs.

Application filed August 271920. Sera11"No. 406,463;

lo @ZZ wiom it may concern Be' it known that I, ARTHUR- F.y OCONNOR, acitizen of the-United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois,` have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Valves for Brine Taiiiks, of' which tliefollowing is afull, clear, concise, and exact description', reference be# ing had tothef accompanying drawings, forming a partof this specilication.

Vllhis inventionl relates to valves, and more particularly to brinevalves, used on the brine tanks of refrigerator cars. yIt is a purposeol:` the invention toprovide a valve for brine tanks that-willabsolutely prevent leakage and which permits the brine tanks to bedrained only at icing stations.

Refrigerator cars are usually provided with four brine tanks at each endo the car., and `one valve drains two of these, the tanks being"connected in pairs by a flexible connection. The Americain RailwayAssociation has made a ruling that these tanks can only be drained aticing stations and that no brine is to?I be allowed to discharge fromthe tanks while the cars are in transit. `The present invention has forone of its objects, the provision of a valve that will comply with'thisv ruling. y

It is a furtherv purpose of the invention to provide a valve providedwith an operating lever'that can only' be operated by raising' thehatchwayyabove the same and must be closed bef'ore'thalt" hatchway canbe closed which operating lever islso moiinted that itl can be swung sofas to be held in open posi# tion' and when released from this positionvwill immediately be drawn tightly: into itsy seat to closing position.It is as further ob-` ject ofthe invention to provide such a valve with"spring means to draw the same into closing position and holding the samein open position when" desired.

Itis also a purpose of the invention to pro-` r vide an adjustableoperating rod forv said valve, to provide for any variations in theproportions of the parts and the car to which they are applied. It is,moreover, a

purpose of the invention to so construct the operating rod thatthevalvewillnot be pre-V vented from seating, lwhen released under' anyyconditions, by said rod. l

It isan object of the invention to provide vention will lappear Vas thedescription vof the accompanying drawings proceeds, in which isshown oneform' of my invention. Iny the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of the improved brine' tank valve,showing the same applied to ay tank "and showing certain portions of therefrigerator car adjacent thereto;

Fig. 2 is al vertical sectional' view of the valve andl associatedparts, the upper portion' of the' valve' operating. member being brokenaway; and

Fig. 3' is a section taken at right angles' to Figi.- Q showing theoperating lever and associated parts;

-Referring in detail to the accompanying drawings-,pthe' improved brinevalve' com'- prises'y a base portion'or casing 3, suitably secured inany suitable manner aslbyrivets to the brine tank' 4,- which ismou'ntedwon suitable supports 5- in the' car body 6l.- The' car body 6is provided with a hatchway 7 provided with a suitable closure or' hatchplug `8. The body portion 3 of? the valve is provided with anintegraldownspout 9 to which is secured! by meansv of the lug 35 ondown-spout 9', the' sheet metal down-spont l0,y emptying into7 the drainpan Ill which is constructed i-n anys'uitablefmanner, thus preventingsplashing of brine' into the car and on the contents" thereof. The lug3'5" passes through an opening in down-spout IO and the parts aresecured in place by a Cotter pin 36. The valvebody orbase 3 is providedwith an upstandin'gcylindrical portion which is closed at its upperlendl by means of at screwthreaded plug 13 provided with'- an oisetportionforminga recess 14, and the valve body is provided with astraight boss 18 having an overhanging portion pro-l viding a circulargroove between the same and the body of the valve 16, thus forming aVdovetailed connection between the valve and the gasket 19 mountedthereon and located between the valve 16 and the seat 15. Between thescrew threaded plug 13 and the valve 16 is mounted the coil spring 20that is held under compression between the valve and plug. Between theend of the spring 20 and the plug 13 is provided a rubber gasket 21closely engaging the rod 17 as shown.

` The pressure of the valve gasket 19 on the seat can be readilyadjusted bv turning the plugv 13 in the proper direction.

It will thus be seen that a valve is provided in which the valve memberis forced against the valve seat by the action of the spring 20 and'that this saine spring holds the washer or gasket 21 in position andprevents the escape of the fluid around the valve stem and between thesame and the valve body. In order to open the valve, certain actuatingmechanism is provided which comprises the rod 17 and a rod 22 having anadjustable and slidable connection with the rod 17 and an operatinglever 23. The slid- `able and adjustable connection between the members17 and 22 is effected vbv the double sleeve member 24 provided with apair of suitable bores for receiving the rods 22 and 17 slidably thereinin parallel relation. The rods 17 and 22 are provided with screwthreaded end portions 25 and 26 upon which nuts 27 and 28 are secured,acting as stops in limiting the movement of the slidable member 24;lllhen the parts are in the position shown in Figs2 and 3 the nut 27 isspaced from the cooperating end portion of the sleeve 24, so as toprovide sufficient clearance to allow the valve to be maintained inclosed position, when the lever is in the position shown in Fig. 3, toVtake care of any variation in the distance from the leverl the valveafter the car is placed in service due to swelling of the wooden partsof the car or any other causes.

It will thus be seen that a connection is provided between the operatinglever 23 and the valve member 16 which can be adjusted to lift the valveat any desired position of the lever 23 and which provides a slidingconnection between the rods 17 and 22 so that suitable play can'beprovided therein in case the mounting of the lever 23 should bedepressed or raised in any manner and allow a proper seating of thevalve 16 by means of the spring 20. The upper end portion of the rod 22is provided with a hook 29 that engages over the cross bar 30 on thelever 23, thus providing a readily disengageable connection between thelever 23 and rod 22. The lever 23 is mounted in a bracket 31 suitablymounted on a portion of the car body 6 beneath the hatchway 7.The-bracket 31 is provided with notches 32 adapted to be engaged by thelugs 33 provided on the member 23.V The lever 23 is so shaped and ismade in such proportions that the same cannot be swung into the dottedposition shown in Fig. 3 without at first removing the hatch plug 8 fromthe hatchway 7. The lever 23 being in the position shown in dotted linesin Fig. 2, the hatch plug 8 could not be replaced until the lever hasbeen restored to the closed position shown in' full lines in Fig. 3. Thespring 20 will automatically draw the valve 16 to its seat and the lever23 to the full line position shown in Fig. 3 as soon as the pivot 30 ofthe rod 22 has passed to the right of the pivot 33 of the lever 23. When the lever 23 is moved to its Avalve opening position, the pivotpoint of the rod 22 is moved past the pivot point 33 orto the leftthereof as shown in Fig. 3, and the pullA of the spring 20 on the valvemember 16 will then hold the lever 23 in its valve opening positionagainst the end wall 39 of the bracket 31.

I-Iavingrthus described my invention, it. will be seen that a valve isprovided that is held both in its closed and open positions by means ofthe spring 20 and that the operating lever thereof cannot be left in itsopen position nor moved into the vopen position when the hatch plug 8 isclosed and that an adjustable and slidable connection is providedbetween the operating lever and the valve proper which will compensatefor any irregularities in the proportions of the valve and car structureand insure the proper seating of the valve member and prev-ent leakagethereof and which can be adjusted while the car is in transit withouttaking any parts of the valve down or apa-rt. However, I desire to haveit distinctly understood that I do not intend to limit myself totheexact details of the structure shown and described except as defined inthe following claims:

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described a valve seat, a valve member,a valve stem, a valve rod connected therewith, means for forcing saidvalve member against said seat, and a pivoted operating lever foryopening and closing said valve member, said operating lever beingpivoted to said valve rod between its free end and its pivot whereby themeans for forcing the valve member against the valve seat also movessaid operating lever to open angular position when said operating leveris moved to such a position that the valve rod pivot is moved past thelever pivot.

2. In a device of the character described a car provided With ahatchvvay, a hatch plug therefor, a brine tank, a valve for said tankcomprising a valve seat, a valve member, means for forcing said `valvemember against said seat and an operating lever for opening and closingsaid valve, said means also operating to move and positively hold saidoperating lever in an open position of rest and said lever being somounted that said hatch plug cannot be placed into position to closesaid hatchway until after said lever has been moved to closing position.

3. In a device of the character described a car provided With ahatchway, a hatch plug therefor, a brine tank, a valve for said tankcomprising a valve seat, a valve member, a valve rod, spring meansembracing said rod and engaging said valve member to force said valvemember against said seat and an 'operating lever for opening and closingsaid valve, said spring means also tending to move said operating leverto an open position of rest after being moved beyond dead center andsaid lever being so mounted that said hatch plug cannot be placed intoposition to close said hatchivay until after said lever has been movedto closing position against the tension of said spring means.

4l. In a device of the character described a valve seat, a valve member,means for forcing said valve against said seat, an operating lever foropening and closing said valve, an operating rod connecting said leverand said valve member and means for adjusting the length of said rod,said operating rod having a sliding joint therein.

5. In a device of the character described a valve seat, a valve member,means for forcing said valve against said seat, an operating lever foropening and closing said valve, an operating rod connecting said leverand said valve member, said operating rod comprising a plurality ofmembers and a block having a limited sliding movement on said membersand adjustable stop means for said block for adjusting the effectivelength of said rod.

6. In a device of the character described a valve seat, a valve member,means for forcing said valve member against said seat, an operatinglever for opening and closing said valve, and an adjustable operatingrod connecting said lever and said valve member, said operating rodcomprising a plurality of members and a block slidable on said rodadjustably and slidably connecting said members.

between said lever and said valve member,

said means also being adapted to positively hold said operating lever inan open position of rest.

8. In a device 'of the character described,

a member having a valve seat, and a portion i having an open ended boreextending from said seat, a valve having a flat face, a rod on saidvalve, a coil spring mounted in said tubular bore and engaging saidvalve to move the same toward said seat, and a closure member for theopen end of said bore, said spring engaging said member, said boreserving as a guide for said valve, said closure member being adjustableto vary the tension of said spring.

9. In a refrigerator car, the combination of a tank having an outlet, avalve controlling the outlet, and including a casing, a valve seattherein, a valve closure member engaging said seat, a valve stemextending upwardly from said closure member through said casing, anoverhead support, a fulcrum member on said support provided withbearings, a lever having trunnions mounted in the bearings and having apintle mounted intermediate the ends thereof, a hook connected with thevalve stem detacliably engaging said pintle and resilient means forholding said valve member against said seat and for preventingaccidental disengagement of said hook from said pintle.

l0. In a refrigerator car, the combination of a tank having an outlet, avalve contrerl ling said outlet comprising a casing having a valve seat,a valve member adapted to engage said seat, a valve stem connected withsaid valve member and projecting through said casing, a sprinO' mountedbetween the casing and said vaIve member constantly urging said valvemember toward the seat, and means for raising the valve member againstthe resistance of the spring, comprising a fulcrum member having spacedbearings, a lever fulcrumed in said bearings and having anintermediately located pintle, a rod having a hook engaging said pintleand connected with said valve stem, and means for limiting the movementof said lever in both directions but permitting the same to siving pastcenter, whereby saidvalve is held open against the resiliency of saidspring in 'one position of said lever and is held closed by said springin the other position of said lever.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 27th day-of July,A. D. 1920.

ARTHUR F. OCONNOR.

